Rumoured Activision Blizzard layoffs confirmed

We've been following speculations regarding a possible mass layoff at Activision Blizzard for quite a while now and, sadly, Blizzard has now confirmed the fact that the studio's downsizing. In a letter to staff obtained by Kotaku, Blizzard president J. Allen Brack announced that - despite having had a great year financially - the company would be cutting the workforce in some departments because of the missed financial goals set.

Sadly, the company isn't letting just a few people go either - during the most recent earnings call, Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick confirmed that around 800 jobs would be cut (8% of its staff), most of which are jobs in the non-development field. Development sources told Kotaku that this has affected Activision publishing, Activision Blizzard, King, High Moon, and Activision studios, although this has not been confirmed.

To shine a light in the darkness of the situation, Activision Blizzard has confirmed that the affected employees will be receiving severance packages and Kotaku adds that profit-sharing bonuses will also be handed out for Blizzard employees.

In the report from Bloomberg yesterday we heard that these moves would be an attempt to restructure and boost profit, and despite the fact the company "once again achieved record results in 2018", they've lowered their expectations for 2019.

"While our financial results for 2018 were the best in our history, we didn't realize our full potential," Kotick wrote to investors. "To help us reach our full potential, we have made a number of important leadership changes. These changes should enable us to achieve the many opportunities our industry affords us, especially with our powerful owned franchises, our strong commercial capabilities, our direct digital connections to hundreds of millions of players, and our extraordinarily talented employees."

We send well wishes to those affected by the cuts.